acts as an advocate or a solicitor or agent for any party to proceedings or as such advocate, solicitor or agent sues out any writ, summons or process, or commences, carries on, solicits or defends any action, suit or other proceeding in the name of any other person or in his own name in any of the courts in Singapore or draws or prepares any document or instrument relating to any proceeding in the courts in Singapore; or

(b)

wilfully or falsely pretends to be, or takes or uses any name, title, addition or description implying that he is duly qualified or authorised to act as an advocate or a solicitor, or that he is recognised by law as so qualified or authorised,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), any unauthorised person who either directly or indirectly —

(a)

draws or prepares any document or instrument relating to any movable or immovable property or to any legal proceeding;

(b)

takes instructions for or draws or prepares any papers on which to found or oppose a grant of probate or letters of administration;

(c)

draws or prepares any document or instrument relating to the incorporation or formation of a limited company;

(d)

on behalf of a claimant or person alleging himself to have a claim to a legal right writes, publishes or sends a letter or notice threatening legal proceedings other than a letter or notice that the matter will be handed to a solicitor for legal proceedings; or

(e)

solicits the right to negotiate, or negotiates in any way for the settlement of, or settles, any claim arising out of personal injury or death founded upon a legal right or otherwise,

shall unless he proves that the act was not done for or in expectation of any fee, gain or reward be guilty of an offence under this subsection.

(3) Any unauthorised person who offers or agrees to place at the disposal of any other person the services of an advocate and solicitor shall be guilty of an offence under this subsection:

(4) Subsection (3) shall not apply to any person who offers or agrees to place at the disposal of any other person the services of an advocate and solicitor pursuant to a lawful contract of indemnity or insurance.

(5) Every person who is convicted of an offence under subsection (2) or (3) shall be liable for a first offence to a fine not exceeding $500 or in default of payment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months and for a second or subsequent offence to a fine not exceeding $1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(6) Any act done by a body corporate which in the case of a person would be an offence under subsection (1), (2) or (3) or is of such a nature or is done in such a manner as to be calculated to imply that the body corporate is qualified or recognised by law as qualified to act as a solicitor shall be an offence under this section and the body corporate shall be liable on conviction for a first offence to a fine not exceeding $1,000 and for a second or subsequent offence to a fine not exceeding $3,000, and where that act is done by a director, officer or employee of the body corporate the director, officer or employee shall, without prejudice to the liability of the body corporate, be liable to the punishments provided in subsection (5).

(7) Where any firm does an act which in the case of a person would be an offence under subsection (1), (2) or (3), every member of the firm shall be deemed to have committed that offence unless he proves that he was unaware of the commission of the act.

(8) Any person who does any act in relation to a contemplated or instituted proceeding in the Supreme Court which is an offence under this section shall also be guilty of a contempt of the court in which the proceeding is contemplated or instituted and may be punished accordingly irrespective of whether he is prosecuted for the offence or not.

(9) In this section, “document” and “instrument” do not include —

(a)

a will or other testamentary document; or

(b)

a transfer of stock containing no limitation thereof.

History for Provision
'33 Unauthorised person acting as advocate or solicitor'.